Legend has it that the Loch Ness Monster was first sighted in the sixth century by an Irish monk while preaching by the lake. Now, a Scottish sailor who has spent the last 26 years of his life searching for the elusive creature, says he has the best picture yet of “Nessie.”

Early one morning in November of last year, George Edwards was turning his ship “Nessie Hunter” back to shore after spending the morning searching for an old steam engine on the lake floor, when he saw something else. The typical “media Nessie,” as Edwards calls it in his thick Scottish accent, depicts the creature with three humps sticking out of the water and a long neck with a head like a horse, but Edwards says that’s probably not what Nessie looks like.

“In my opinion, it probably looks kind of like a manatee, but not a mammal,” Edwards told ABC. “When people see three humps, they’re probably just seeing three separate monsters.”

He says he was a skeptic at first, but decades on Loch Ness have turned him into an ardent believer. The main argument Edwards says he hears from skeptics is that the lake has been searched, and nothing has ever been found proving the existence of a Loch Ness monster. He likens the sonar searches he’s seen in the past to trying to do an ultrasound on a pregnant woman while she’s running down a hallway.

Edwards told ABC News that because of personal matters that arose shortly after he took the picture — including the death of both his mother and sister – he did not immediately circulate the image. He has a few tips for monster hunters who want to see Nessie for themselves: “You have to be on the lake every day, with a camera and binoculars, and you have to be in the right place at the right time.”

Do you believe that the Loch Ness Monster really exists? Tell us about the local mythical monster in your area!